Kevin Bacon announces return to Footloose high school 40 years later for student prom

Kevin Bacon is ready to cut loose at prom.

The Hollywood star is returning to his Footloose roots after announcing he will attend a senior prom for the Utah school where the iconic movie was filmed in 1984.

Bacon told a gym full of Payson High School student in Utah this week that he will be stopping by their final school prom – 40 years after he shot the iconic dance film.

Watch the video above.

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This comes after students launched a campaign to get the actor to attend the event.

Payson High School is set to relocate at the end of the school year.

The #BacontoPayson social media campaign was a collective effort that got students involved in movie recreations and choreographed videos in hopes of getting Bacon’s attention.

In an announcement broadcast on the Today show, Bacon thanked the students for their invitation, calling the film and high school “a big part of my life.”

“I have been so impressed with everything that’s been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back,” he told the students live on screen.

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Footloose cast: Then and now

“The movie and Payson High School was a big part of my life,” he said.

“I’ve been amazed at the work that all of you have been putting into this, with the musical and the flash mobs and the re-creations.”

When he announced he’d be coming, the students, who were gathered together at the school for the announcement, cheered.

“Thank you, guys. Let’s dance,” Bacon said.

Just last year, the actor dusted off his moves in a video where he recreated his iconic Footloose dance to celebrate the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

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Footloose was released in 1984 and starred Bacon as a teenager who moves to a small town that forbids dancing and works to overturn the draconian measure.

It all culminates in a prom scene that, surely in part thanks to Kenny Loggins, apparently still resonates.

Speaking on the Podcrushed podcast in 2023, Bacon revealed he “wasn’t trained as a dancer” when he auditioned for Footloose

“When I did the dance movie, I was not a dancer. I wasn’t trained as a dancer,” he said.

“If I’m being honest, I didn’t even really understand that it was a dance movie,” he added.

“I thought it was just a movie, and then, where they would indicate that there was dancing, I would just get up.”

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